


In the dark

by KonElDanvers



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Love, Threats of Rape/Non-Con, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:01:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25936330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KonElDanvers/pseuds/KonElDanvers
Summary: Emma Swan has to finally figure Out who she is.But how can she do that when the shadows of her past still hunt her?
Relationships: Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan, Prince Charming | David Nolan/Snow White | Mary Margaret Blanchard
Comments: 6
Kudos: 48





	In the dark

Emma Swan was a good Person.  
A good friend.  
A caring daughter and most important of all, a loving a mother.

She never doubted it and noone else did either (maybe except a certain mayor of a small town in Maine who also happened to be the adoptive mother of Emmas son)

But years had gone by since than. They had cleared the air between them (it had taken a shitload of either of them almost dying, almost being killed by each other, or barely not destroying the town for the two of them to finally become friends).

Emma had once again taken on her duty as the towns sheriff while Regina went back to being the mayor. It could have been a wonderful Life. Emma had finally found her parents, Snowwhite and Prince Charming and the blonde still found it unbelieveable that the two most loved people in the fairytale world, were indeed, her parents. Emma knew that they would never have a "normal" life. But she had hoped that once everyone got used to the situation she would start to see the two adults as her parents and maybe they her as their daughter. 

It never really got to that.

The Sheriff knew that they cared, that they cared a lot but most of the time that didn't seem to be enough.

They never asked Emma how her life before she came to Storybrook had truly been.  
They knew that the blonde had been in foster care but nothing deeper than that. 

Sometimes Emma had wanted to scream at the top of her lung for them to ask. 

To listen. 

Just once.

In the orphan edge no one had listened. More times than she could count she would go to bed without food. 

Food was something Emma had to fight for. Regina would make fun of her because she ate like a child but truly it were her instincs, telling her to eat as much food as possible, because who knew when her next meal would be…

Emma had learned to hate the dark. There always had to be some kind of light.  
When her parents realized that, they had asked about it but Emma had only shrugged her shoulders. 

She didn't want to burden them with the fact that Emma couldn't stand the dark because for the longest time it meant that no one was there. 

That no one witnessed the cruelty of her foster parents. 

The dark bruises unseen. The rough touches and quietly whispered "this can be our secret", from the man that was supossed to take care of her when she was eleven. 

Or the burning strikes that the leather of a belt would leave.

No, the dark was dangerous. The dark had no witnesses.  
What happened in the dark, didn't happen at all.

She stood in front of a mirror.  
Blonde, long hair falling in disney like curls onto her shoulder. 

The Sheriff was wearing a dress. It looked like it was made for a princess, which to be fair, she was. 

It was Henry's 15th birthday and the the whole family wanted to go to a restaurant. It should feel good, right. Why did it feel so wrong?  
The soft fabric of the dress was itching and the make up was weighing heavylie on her skin. She sighed. Why did it feel wrong?  
Why did a look in the mirror almost make her want to tear her skin of? 

It made no sense!  
But so did rarely anything in her life.

Emma remembered when she was seven. The young girl had just been brought into a new family. They seemed nice.  
They already had a kid. He was around ten and Emma had loved the way that his dark skin would make his eyes shine in a soft gold. 

Emma liked the thought that he could be her older brother. 

In the middle of the night they had decided to play dress up.  
Dressing up as fairy tale characters. 

"You can be Rapunzel and I'll be Alladin!", They boy had said.  
Emma pouted: "But what If I want to be Prince Charming?"  
He laughed and smiled at her with a soft expression. "i think we can do that! My Mom bought me a suit last year, it's a bit to wide for you but I think that it will work."

An hour later they stood in front of each other. The older boy wearing wide trousers and a west while Emma was folding up the sleeves of the suit jacket. 

"How do I look?", The blonde asked.  
"You look good, Charming." Emma had grinned, proud of herself. It had felt liberating. The fabric of the suit. The aknowlegdement of her brother. 

Sadly the blonde remembered her foster parents coming home later that night, finding the kids fighting against invisible monsters. With a stern look they took in Emmas attire.  
"And who are you supposed to be?" 

The older boy answered for her. "Prince Charming! It's as clear as day, dad!" Emma had smiled but also proudly recked her chin. 

Two days and a slap in the face later she was back in the system.  
"you can't be a Prince. You're a Girl!"  
The older man had grunted. Young Emma had raised one hand to her cheek, the other one forming a tight fist. "What If I don't want to be a girl?" "You are a girl! Hear me? No one will want a freak in their family!" 

Freak

Dyke

Disapointement

She had heared it all. Over the years more times than she could count. She tried not to believe it but the thing is, when you hear something often enough, it doesn't matter what you want to believe. The words will be burned into your soul already. 

So Emma left this fantasy of being a boy behind. 

Life went on. 

When she got pregnant at the age of seventeen, and than left behind in prison, she didn't know what to do. Was there something she could do? Emma had only one thing in mind, giving the kid a better life. Not making the child bear the same burden that she did.

So she did the only right thing. She gave her kid up for adoption.  
She got her life in order after. Emma became a police officer, graduated and lived a normal life. And than, almost eleven years after she had given up her Kid for adoption she found this little boy in front of her, telling the blonde that she was his mother. 

It was a shock, of course. Emma wasn't ready to be a mother. Wasn't ready to have this kind of responsibilaty. 

But over time they build a system. Emma knew that Regina would always hold a different bond with Henry.  
One that was build on first steps, first words and late movie nights. 

Things parents do. 

But Emma was fine with that.  
She loved the fact that Henry had a good childhood. That he had a loving mother. That he never had to fear If he would have a roof over his head or a warm bed to come back to. She was glad.

But the slight feeling of jealousy couldn't be buried. That was the childhood she had wanted. 

Nothing fancy. 

Emma hadn't want to live in a castle. She didn't want to be a princess. She just wanted people to love her. People that she could trust. 

Henry had that. 

The blonde bit her lip, looking into the mirror once again. She lifted up her curls. Now it almost looked like she had short hair, curls falling into her eyes. If she squinted, the blonde could Imagine a sharper jawline, maybe even darker eyebrows. Just all around a more angled, masculine face. 

She wasn't sure what it meant. She had heard the term "transgender".  
But she had also heard the curse "Tranny" and so on.  
Emma knew that those who pursued to transition often didn't lead an easy life. That family and friends often had trouble accepting it, If they did at all. 

In the group homes Emma had lived together with multiple transgender people. "I'm just glad I'm here.", A dark skinned girl had said. 

She had been outed to her parents, who hadn't taken it kindly. From what Emma knew the girl had worked for a prostitution service at the age of sixteen. 

Emma admired her. 

She didn't let it break her. She continued to fight. She was brave enough. 

There was a boy some time later. 

He had chopped of His Hair with a sissor he had found in the kitchen. His grandmother had found him and freaked out. Two weeks later he landed in the group home. 

"Of course I'm sad. They are my family. It terryfies me that they couldn't accept me. I don't know what I'll do now that they aren't here anymore."  
He had looked her right in the eyes. 

"But I'm also glad that I don't have to hide anymore. I can finally be me." 

Emma was astonished by the laughter that the two teenagers still had. The glimmer their eyes held. 

It made her think. Could she be…? Could she live as- NO!

Every time as much as the thought slipped into her head the echo of the word "Freak" took over. 

It wasn't an option. It never was.

Emma looked in the mirror again. The long hair, the dress… Snow and David wanted her to be a princess. Wanted their daughter to have a happy ending. With the prince of her dreams. 

She snorted.

The thought of long, dark hair and the smell of apples and coffee crossed her mind. No, there probably wouldn't be a prince. But Emma would never say that out loud. 

Even the thought of losing her family, again, was to much. And not being the girl that everyone expected her to be, would increase it. In the other realm same sex relationships weren't unheard of but most of the time those was whispered about behind closed doors. 

The couples weren't open and people that were trans? Emma had never heard such a fairytale. But trans storys honestly were never told. Not even in this world. She thought about the one movie that had been about a trans person that she brought herself to watch. 

It could have been a good movie. The Story was solid. Not great but solid.  
But why a cisgender actor?  
The character had already had already taken hormones? So why would the Producers do this? It made people think they were just playing dress up. 

Emma made herself smile at her reflection. She was a princess. Henry's mother and a friend and daughter.

No one had ever doubted that.

No one, except her.

_______________

Three weeks had gone by. Emma still thinks about the girl and the boy.

And how much she would like to have their courage.

Emma wasn't't stupid. At one point she had to admit to herself that she wasn't her. That she wasn't Emma. But instead that she was he.  
And that he was terrified. 

Emma didn't allow herself to think about it in brought daylight. Scared that someone would be able to see.  
That someone would be able to tell.

But at night? At night she would let herself dream of what could.  
How their family could be like If Emma wasn't Emma. Maybe he would have a wife? Maybe she would have long, brunette hair? Maybe she would smell like apple and coffee? Maybe they would still have a son?  
They would go to eat icecream in the summer and drink punch when the cold air of winter hit.

Emma would let herself sink into the dreams, almost enough to make her feel like she was drowning. But she would. Because what happened in the dark wasn't real. It had no witnesses….

It went on like this for two more months. One night Emma found herself waking up. Her top drenched in sweat and her mind racing. 

Around her the blonde felt the walls closing in. She wanted to run. She wanted to jump up and just walk away. But instead she layed there. Her heart racing fast. When she finally managed to stand up, her limbs were shaking and she almost felt like she was going to faint.

Emma made it to the bathroom. The blonde turned on the light and without looking at the mirror she stumbled forward. Splashed water at her face, washing the sweat away. When she looked up, Emma looked back. The slim eyebrows, those high cheekbones and this long Hair.

Her heart started racing again.

This god damn hair. Emma hated everything it represented. 

The fact that Emma was a daughter. That it was still curled like she belonged into a Disney movie didn't exactly make it better. It made her feel sick. The blonde wanted to tear it off. 

Without thinking she stumbled into the kitchen and grabbed a sissor. Emma went back to the bathroom, tied it into a ponytale and with a few movements it was gone. She continued to cut till it was short enough. Emma knew that it looked like Shit, but it didn't Matter. The blonde felt good. She finally had controll about something in her life.

The next morning Ruby stared at her with wide eyes. "What did you-"  
Emma interrupted her. "I cut it." 

Ruby laughed. "That's obvious, but why?" Emma shrugged. "I'm giving it to one of this companys that makes wiggs for cancer patiens."  
The lie came over her lips easily it wasn't really a lie. She had actually planned on doing that.

Multiple people pointed at Emma that day. She ignored it and went on. In the evening she had dinner with Henry and Regina. It had become a weekly thing.  
When the brunette saw her new Hairstyle, she pointed at a chair and brought out a set of sissors and racors. 

"Sit, Miss Swan." Emma raised an eyebrow. "Why?"  
"Because I won't let you run around with this half heartes mole on your head!" Emma grinned. "Fair enough." 

The blonde sat down and half an hour later, Regina brought a mirror to her face. "What do you think?" 

Emma looked at her reflection. It was a haircut that was similat to Henry's. While the sides were a little shorter and the top a bit longer, it was still unmistakenly, a Mills haircut. 

Tears started to dwell up behind her eyes. Emma gathered herself quickly. "It's amazing!"  
Regina smiled at the compliment. The brunette was the first person not to ask why she did it. Emma didn't even have to tell her what kind of hairstyle she wanted. Regina just… knew. It made Emma feel relieved. 

That night she went to bed, still dreaming about what could be. But for the first time it seemed to be more than just a fantasy.

________________

Three weeks later Emma went past a shop. She had gone to Boston to look at some reports and decided to also look around her former home once again. The shop displayed multiple dresses and suits. One had catched Emmas eye.  
It was made of a dark blue fabric, with a dark red Button up underneath it. The fabric of the suit seemed to shimmer. 

It remined Emma of the suit she had worn when she and the older boy had pretended to be Disney characters.

She went in. 

Her steps were nervois when she approached the suit.  
Which was silly. She took it and went to one of the cabins. She quickly changed and stared at herself in the mirror. All of sudden there was a banging at the stall door. She opened it and a man, that couldn't be much older than her was taking her in. He smiled.  
The crooked grin was familiar.

Emma noticed the placet that marked him as someone who worked here. "I'm sorry to bother you.", He Said. 

Emma swallowed.  
Was He going to tell her that she couldn't take the suit? That it was made for men? 

"You have been in there for quiet a while and I wanted to make sure that you're alright."

Emma finally breathed again. "Äh, yes. Of course." "Do you want to buy it?"  
Emma tilted her head.  
"I could alter it for you. It is a bit to wide right now."  
Emma couldn't help but smile. He reminded her of that Boy.

An hour later He have her the suit. "Do you want to try it on?" The blonde nodded. When she came back out He clapped excited.  
"you look amazing!"  
Emma smiled. "Thank you." He went quiet and seemed to be lost in his thoughts. "Are you alright?", Emma asked. He nodded. "Yeah, I Just think that this Halloween I should dress up as Alladin…" She couldn't help but smile at his golden eyes.

______________

Emma had become "bolder" with her Outfits. Instead of form fitting shirts, she would wear flannels or hoddies. It made her feel more comfortable.  
The blonde could still catch her mother staring sadly at her changed appearence. "Your hair was so wonderful. I really don't understand why you did cut it off." David would only sit beside her and holding her hand. 

Regina truly had been the only one not to question it. One night she came home and dark, leather shoes were standing before her bed. She hadn't bought them herself but a note that said "It will go nicely with your suit", told Emma everything she needed to know. 

The blonde wasn't sure how Regina had known about her suit but she was excited. The next day she sent a bouqet of flowers to the mayors Office.

The two never spoke about it.

________________

Emma made an effort to often chat Hasan. Even after all those years they still had this feeling of trust between them. And for the first time, Emma told someone what happened in her time in the system. 

Hasan held her while she cried and Emma didn't feel like she had to pretend that everything was fine.

He apologized for the way His parents reacted and told her that she would always have a place with him. 

He was married with a Kid. His wife was a nice woman that spoke with a heavy italian accent.  
The two of them meet in greece on a hollyday. 

Emma was excited for Hasan and wanted to know everything. She brought his daughter presents and soon she was "Charming". The nickname that Hasan had used when they were young had stuck. And all three of the new found part of Emmas family used it.

She hadn't told anyone in storybrook why she was leaving the town once in a while. She wanted to protect her brother from possibly magic stuff. 

_______________

One night Emma sleept over. In the middle of the night she woke up, once again drenched in sweat. The blonde went into the kitchen to get a glass of water. Footsteps behind her made Emma turn around. Hasan was standing there. His hair messy and his eyes still half way closed.

"What'you doing'ere?", He slurred.  
"Just woke Up."  
"Why?"  
Emma shrugged. "Thoughts.

The dark haired man motioned Emma to pour him a glass of water too. "What thoughts?" Emma gave him the water and he drowned it in one sip. With eyes that actually seemed to take in their surroundings he looked at her. 

"What- what If I'm not who I'm supossed to be?" Hassan tilted his head.  
Emma decided to explain a bit more. "I Just feel like… I'm not… Emma."  
He nodded. "And who are you?"

The question was quiet and soft. Emma knew that he wouldn't laugh at her. 

"I don't know. I only know that I'm not Emma."  
"What do you want me to call you?"  
The blonde hessitated. "I kind of like the nickname you gave me."  
He grinned. "Charming it is than." 

If Emma ever were to tell him who her father was, He would have a field day.  
He coughed. "What about pronouns?" Emma looked up, a hounted look in her eyes.  
"You don't have to answer me right now."

A week later the blonde send him a Text Message.

"He/him"

___________________

Emma went to bed, feeling better. For the first time in years sleep didn't feel like it was nessecary and instead it felt Like a relieve. He still always had a light on but He was able to enjoy just lying there.

____________________

Emma was confused. When he was with Hassan he was "Charming" and his daughter started calling him Uncle.  
And it felt good.  
He didn't want his name, His actual name to be Charming but it felt a hell lot better than Emma.

Because that was what he was called in Storybrook. There he was still Emma. Emma the saviour. Emma the princess. Emma the mother.

He had just realized how much he didn't like it when people would call him that.  
On some days it was fine.Not great but He could tolerate it. On other days it would make him flinch. On those days he wouldn't even be able to Look into the mirror.  
Charming finally had a name for this feeling.

"Dysphoria"

And more than once He had wanted to call a therapist and start everything to get on testosteron. But for that He would have to be out. But Charming was scared.  
His parents wanted him to be Emma. That much He knew. They wanted him him to be girly again. 

The only person in Storybrook he felt like He could kind of trust was Regina. And still he didn't tell her. Still he would keep quiet at dinner and just make another joke. Even Henry had noticed that something was up. One time he heard him asking Ruby why His Ma was acting so weird.

It stung. Charming didn't want Henry to think that He was weird.

The blond wanted the kid to be able to say that His dad was cool and that he was proud of him. But he also knew that Henry didn't know. No one did.

______________

It wasn't that the blond was scared of social events but they also weren't his favourite. Social usually meant formal and formal meant dresses. And he didn't like dresses.

So when the five year annivercary of the curse breaking hit and suddenly the whole town was talking about a ball, Charming didn't like the Idea. 

Snow would make him wear a dress. She would probably make the blond go shopping with her. 

It came just like he had expected it. "I think that we should go out of town." Ruby nodded, a wide grin on her face. Charming made a grimace. "We can all get really nice dresses! I saw a dress that would really suit you Emma." The blond swallowed. His eyes nervously hovering between the two. "Leave Swan alone!", A voice behind him called out. Charming turned around. 

Regina was standing there, an annoyed look on her face. "We're just planning a shopping Trip. Emma has to get something nice too! How else will she impress Killian?"

Charming flinched at the mention of the pirat. He had almost forgotten that MM constantly tried to push them together. David wasn't a fan of it but since Snowwhite thought that they were a good match he let it happen.

"Well, Swan already has something to wear, don't you?", She looked at him. Hastily Charming nodded. 

Ruby decided not to ask any further but MM wanted to know what kind of dress Charming was going to wear so that they wouldn't buy something similar. "Don't sorry about it.", He groaned. "I Just don't want us to stand there in the same dresses!", The woman with the pixie cut defended her question. "And I already told you that we have very different tastes and that we won't wear the same thing."

He was starting to get annoyed. Regina once again decided to save him. "I saw the dress. And believe me, it certainly isn't your taste."

After that Snowwhite boarded the conversation into a different direction.  
The blond gave Regina a thankful Look. The brunette smiled at him and nodded. 

If Regina has stopped calling Charming Miss Swan, He hadn't realized. But Regina had been watching the Charmings kid carefully. She wasn't stupid. She had seen a lot of documentarys and read enough books to know when someone didn't feel comfortable in their own skin.  
When the blond had stopped wearing those tight shirts and started flinching at every mention of the name Emma, Regina had almost been certain.

But one night after dinner, the blond had set his phone on the table and had forgotten to pick it back up. Regina only noticed because it started binging with messages at two in the morning. She decided to take a look at what could be so important.  
The password to Swans mobile simply were the dates that the Star Wars movies had first been published. She rolled her eyes at that. Such a Swan thing to do.

She than started searching for the contact that Had started sending messages.

This person was saved as "BBH".  
What that meant she didn't know. But the recent xhat showed a picture of a little girl that was holding a stuffed animal version of a wolf. 

"She won't go anywhere without it!"

And "YOU are responsible for this!!! Thea is going crazy!!!"

Regina didn't know who Thea was. But when she started scrowling through the chat she became sure of one thing. Whoever they were, Swan thought of them as family.

They two of them seemed to be calling each other "bro" and "dude". The name of the guy seemed to be Hasan and Thea seemed to be His wife. Regina squinted at a part of the text that was definititely from the start. Another conversation was suddenly interrupted with the two words "He/him".

And Hasan seemed to know what It meant. The answer "Alright than lil' bro", at least made her think so.

After this night Regina was sure that Swan wasn't happy being Emma. Not in the way that the life that Emma lived sucked but instead that Swan wasn't Emma. Regina decided that she should read more about it and the more she read the more fond she became of the term "transgender" as a word to describe the blond. 

Regina wanted to give her friend time to tell her himself. She wouldn't push him.

But Regina wanted to make the blond feel comfortable, so she stopped using gendered terms. She slowly started to fade out Swans first name instead replaced it with his last name.

But she wanted to do more. Soon a ball would be held in the townhall and Regina wanted to talk to Swan after. But before that she wanted to talk to this Hasan.

When the blond had been on his lunch break, Regina stole his Phone from his desked and photographed the phone number of him.

Later that day she wrote him.

"Hello, I know that it is very unusual for someone to write another person when they don't know each other but I would like to talk about Emma Swan"

The reply came five minutes later.

"How do you know Swan?"

Regina smiled at the protective subtext of the Message.

"My name is Regina Mills and I am a close friend"

"Indeed you are. Swan told me a lot about you."

"I hope only good things?"

"Not sure If that's the case but Swan speaks highly of you!"

Regina looked up from the screen.  
Highly?  
One of Swans friends used such words and didn't try to use some sort of Internet slang with her? Did the blond actually have friends with class?

"So you know that I'm the mother of Swans child?"

"Yeah, told me some stuff about your very complecated family relations. Henry seems to be a great kid from the stories that I've been told."

"He is. If it isn't to bold, but who are you to Swan?"

Regina waited patiently for an answer. She was interested in this Hasan. He seemed smart and to actually care about the blond. And he didn't want to out him. Both of them had used Swan in a way to avoid pronouns.

"I am Swans brother"

"I'm sorry, but that isn't possible. Swan doesn't have any siblings"

"Not of blood but Swan stayed with my family (fostercare) when we were kids and we found each other some months ago.  
We maybe aren't siblings by blood but I he is my brother and I am his!"

Regina tightened the grip around her phone. He had used he/him pronouns. Should she confront the man about it?

"His brother?"

"I am fairly Sure that you know that already if the use of no pronouns was any clue."

Regina liked him.

"You are correct. He hasn't told me or anyone for that matter. I just seem to be the only one with eyes in this town."

"Yeah, He told me that you are quiet a detective."

"I'm not sure If that's true but I am able to count two and two together."

"He said that your humor is very dry."

"You may be informed that my humor ist amazing! And now that I'm sure, does Swan have a name that he goes by?"

"Only a nickname. He is very nervous to chose a name."

"And what would that nickname be? Darth Vader? Or maybe Skywalker?"

"Sounds like him, but no. My family and I call him Charming."

Reginas lip lifted. Charming? Really?

"Why Charming?"

"When we were kids we played dress up. Disney dress up (as you do).  
He really wanted to be prince Charming. Now, 28 years later it's still his name."

Only Swan would chose his fathers name by accident. Only Swan.

"If I called him that here it would be to obvious… Swan will have to do till he actually comes out."

"He won't mind. He would never blame you. He's just scared to tell everyone in your town."

"And why is that?"

"He doesn't have good expiriences with people reacting to him as anything different than Emma. He doesn't really trust people and once He does He's terryfied to lose those. It's honestly making me sad to even think about it."

Regina bit her lip. She knew that Swan hadn't had a great childhood but since the blond had never talked about it she had hoped that maybe it hadn't been that bad. But Hasan seemed to be indicating the opposit.  
It made her sure that it actually had been worse than she thought.

________________

Charming looked into the mirror. For the first time in years the reflection he saw wasn't something to bad. The blond actually liked it. The short hair made his face seem more angular, and the suit that he was wearing could make him pass. 

Swan could admit that He looked good.

But still the youngest Charming was nervous. Everyone else at the ball seemed to think He would be wearing a dress. MM did for sure and Killian had stopped the blond more than once to ask If he didn't want to be the pirates date.

Ruby had become more quiet within the last few weeks. She had stopped asking why he would do something and instead resigned to a small smile a raised eyebrow. 

It made him nervous. Did she figure it Out? If so, what did she think of it? 

Regina still was the only person that he actually trusted with his secret. 

In the last few months the blond had started to spend more time at her place. In a way to avoid his parents, Charming would come by for breakfast and often for dinner too. Regina had started to make him a lunch box. In her words "you're eating like a child and If no one soon does anything about it you'll be diagnosed with diabetis in no time!"

She was right. And as much as he hated to say it, Swan liked those lunches. They were often made of salad (not his favourite) but Regina would cut Steak into it. Sometimes He would give him crepes and on days that Regina noticed hadn't been very good, he would find a Joghurt or a lolli pop in the box. 

It wasn't a lot but more than enough to brighten his day.  
Charming straightened the collar of the red button up. "Let's go to a Party!"

_____________

Nobody was dressed like they were in the dark forrest. The suits and dresses were way more practical and less shiny than there but still Regina could see the light, magic touches of the fairytale world. 

Henry was standing next to her, pacing inpatiently from one foor to another. "When will Ma be here?" Regina smiled at the nervous hand fiddeling He did that also could be found in his dads nervois antics. "Swan will be here soon. You know that she won't let this sort of party go by without making a big entrance."

The fifteen year old narrowed His eyes. "We both know that out of you two you're the one that can't stand to walk into a room without slamming at least one door."

Regina wanted scolt him for the comment but there was way to much truth carrying it, so she let it slide.

Suddenly, the door opened and a nervous figure walked into the hall.

Regina had known about the suit Swan had brought but she didn't know that it would look like this. It was cut very tight and flattened out the blonds chest. The dark red of the dress shirt stood in contrast to the blue of his suit jacked. The shoes that Regina had brought him gave the szenery a nice touch. The blond stopped to look around, He raised his hand to stroke it through His short curls and in this Moment, Regina could see him as Davids son. The similarities were there. The same ash blond hair, those fairy tale curls and those blue, shiny eyes.

Swan looked like a prince.

The people in the hall had started to whisper and Charming looked around to find someone that could cheer him up. There, Regina.

The brunette stood next to Henry who was wearing black trousers and a white dress shirt with the first two buttons undone. He looked so grown up and the blond hated the thought that just in three years He would go off to college.

Regina was wearing a tight, red dress. It actually seemed to have the same color as Charmings shirt.

Before Swan could Walk over to them, a shrill voice made him look around. "What are you wearing?"  
Snow

He looked down. "A suit?" The dark haired Woman shook her head. "I thought that you had brought a dress? You wanted to impress Killian tonight. Do you really think that you will be attractive to him when you look like a… like a man?"

Swan made sure that no one noticed the small smile on His face. At least He passed. The blond didn't bother to correct his mother on the fact that she wanted him to impress Killian. He had never said a word even relating to it.

David was standing next to His wife, his brows needled together and with a thoughtful Expression. "Why would you dress like this?", Snowwhite asked. Swan shrugged His shoulders. "I wanted to?"  
"But why would you want to dress like this? You are a princess! You should be wearing a sparkly dress and ride off into the sunset with the man of your dreams."

Swan gritted his teeth. Snowwhite didn't seem to know what reality was. "People don't get this type of happy ending here. This is the real world. There are no horses. There is no perfect Sunset and there are no dream men either."

"But we're in Storybrook! Here you can have that. And you are our daughter. You need to have a happy ending."

"Maybe I just have a different definition of a happy ending."

Swan walked away from the two and tried to ignore the whispers that followed him on his way. In front of Regina and Henry He stopped. Nervously he combed through his curles. "And? How do I look?" 

"You look Sharp, Ma!", Henry smiled. Swan ignored the Ma. "Sure?" He nodded. "Where did you get this suit? If Mom would buy me one like this I wouldn't refuse it."

Swan laughed, while Regina send their son a death stare. She looked up to the blond. Their height differnce letting him hover one or two inches abover her. He raised one eyebrow. Regina came closer. Swan wasn't sure what she was going to do but against his instincts, Regina just tightened his tye and flattened his collar. "You look good.", She said. Swan smiled proudly. "You look beautyful as well." 

If the blond didn't know better, He would have said that Regina blushed a little.

The three of them went over to one of the tables that were placed all around the hall and waited for their meals to arrive. Swan couldn't help but to steal a few looks from Regina. She looked beautyful. Her dress shimmering against her tanned skin and the lovely smirk on her face. At one point Henry got up to dance with His school mates and left His parents to themselfs.

Swan still had his knive in a steak when Regina cleared her throat. The blond set the dish aside. "Is something wrong?" The brunette shook her head. "No. It's just…"  
Now Regina had the full attention of the youngest Charming. "What is it Regina?", His voice more pressing. 

The brunette smiled. "I'm just thinking how handsome you look tonight. One night say, Charming?"

Swans heart was beating at a faster rate. Did she-, Did she know?

"I'm not sure what you mean?", The blond said hastily.  
"Well, Hasan said that you aren't sure about name yet and that they have been calling you by this nickname."

His palms started sweating. "How do you-" "Know? Don't worry, I won't out you or anything. I just wanted to let you know that I know." 

Swan wasn't Sure what to think of this. How did Regina know his brother? 

"You left your Phone at my place once. In the middle of the night it started blowing up with messages. I just wanted to make sure that nothing bad had happened. I wrote him some days later. I had my suspiciouns before but he made it clear that I had been right."

Swan nodded slowly. "And what do you think about it?" Regina could tell that He was scared. "I think that you are a wonderful Dad to Henry and I am very proud of you for starting to be more true to yourself."

Swan wasn't sure how to react. He just stared at the Woman in front of him.  
"If you would just start killing the spiders in the house you would be the perfect man."

Swan grimaced. Regina chuckled. "Anyway, there is some space on the dance Floor and I think it has our name written all over it." She extended her hand to the blond. It took him a few seconds to realize what was going on but finally Swan took Reginas hand and went over to the dancefloor.

When they started swaying in the middle of all the other pairs, He could hear whispers but the blond ignored them. 

Their bodies were pressed together. Reginas hands on the blonds shoulders while he held her on her hips. If Swan would have to guess he would say that they were perfect for each other. Swaying in the rhythem of the slow song while Swan could smell the scent of apple. 

"You are quiet the fine dancer, Mister Swan.", Regina whispered, only loud enough for her dance partner to hear.  
"You aren't that bad yourself.", He answered with a grin.

Suddenly Swan swirrled her around the room once just to Catch her in His arms again. The two of them now even closer. Reginas Hair tickeling His cheek while he tried not to step forward and just kiss her. He had to keep it together.  
He couldn't just- Suddenly her lips were on His and Swan was taken by surprise.  
Not in a bad way but He hadn't suspected the brunette to like him back. Her lips were soft and the scent of apple and coffee was taking over his mind. 

Swan could feel the brunette smiling against his lips. "Why am I the one who always has to make the first the first step?", She whispered.  
Swan chuckled, his voice hoars. "Because you are amazing, Miss Mills."

__________________

Two years had gone by. Swan had stayed in the closet for another two months till he finally had found the courage to tell Henry.

Regina and Swan had told their Swan to go to the living room after dinner and their kid had already known that they wanted to tell him something.

The two of them had been dating since their grant first kiss at the ball and Henry couldn't be happier for them. But there seemed to be something that they still hadn't told him.

"Come here Kid.", His Ma had said and patted on the couch pillow next to her. He slumbed down on the sofa while ignoring the glare that his brunette mother gave him for it.  
The blonde seemed nervous and looked at Regina for help. "We have to tell you something.", The former mayor stated.

Duh, that was obvious.

Emma took a deep breath and asked: "How much do you know about the lgbt comunity?"

"I know what each letter means and I know that you two are a part of the comunity."

His blonde mother looked at the brunette. Henry was confused. He thought that it was as easy as that. But If so, why would they have to talk about it.

"You know what the letter T in there means?"

"Of course."

"What would be your reaction If I told you that I'm the T?"

The blonde was looking at Henry with a serious expression. He could see that she was scared. The boy thought about it. Emma had changed. She wasn't really wearing anything femenin anymore and she had a haircut that was similar to His. His mother had started cutting it as an addition to his hair. 

Emma just told him that she-, No… HE! was trans.  
It felt a bit weird. After he had meet Emma He had never thought of him as anything different than his Ma. What would that mean for their family?  
Had they already told other people? How did they react? 

Henry came to realize that while it felt weird to think of Emma not as His mother, the thing that bothered him the most were possible reactions from other people. He didn't want him to get hurt because of this.

He looked up to See the blond staring at him, His face as If it was carved in stone.

Henry smiled at him. "So… is it Dad?" He could almost feel the relieve that the blond felt. "Yeah, If you want that." Henry nodded. "Sure, Dad." With an relieved laugh Swan pulled him into his arms and let his hand stroke through the carefully styled hair of Henry.  
"Stop messing with my hair please." The blond grinned. "Sorry, dad duty." The boy rolled His eyes. "You could say that I am father away from being emberassing than anything else?"

Henry groaned and Regina rolled her eyes. "You won't make horrible dad jokes the whole time! Please tell me that you won't!" Swan just grinned widely and Henry knew that he so would.

One week later they interduced him to Hasan, who made himselfs known as his dads older brother. He was a fun guy who Henry soon realized would fight anyone to keep His dad save. Thea was also really nice and Henry enjoyed playing with their daughter who He soon called His niece. The Boy also found it hillarious that His dad got called "Charming". 

"GRAMPS NAME? REALLY?", He shouted when the blond explained it to him. "Yeah", Swan blushed.  
"You are such a useless guy, dad." 

Two weeks later Swan came out to his parents. They didn't have a great reaction. Started questioning what could have caused this amd what they could do to cure this. Swan did take this Close to Heart and the slurs that the dwarves had started to call also weren't easy to forget.

More than once Regina found her boyfriend crying in the middle of the night.

At one point she decided that it was enough and ordered a town Meeting to call Out the bigots. After that, it went quiet but Swan refused to spent a lot of time with the people of storybrook. A month later He started testosterone and also finally chose a name. "Emmet"  
It was similar to Emma but still different. He really liked it and it felt right. A year after Emmet had come out to Regine, the small family moved to Boston. The people in Storybrook hadn't stopped being assholes and the blonde had had enough of it. 

They moved into a house right next to Hasans and the siblings would often be seen taking their kids to the park.

While all of this Emmet became more confident and six months later He proposed to Regina. 

Two months after that the blond finally had his top Surgery. 

But He still missed His parents. He sometimes talked to Ruby but Snkwhite and David hadn't come around yet.  
When Emmet and Regina started sending out Wedding invetations, they also send one to Storybrook with the Hope that maybe Emmets parents finally had layed their bigotry aside and could see their son for who He was.

At the day of the Wedding Emmet stood in Front of the mirror. He was wearing a White dresshirt, a blue tie and a vest. His suit jacked was hanging next to him.

The last year had changed him a lot. His face was finally the one he had wanted go See for so long.  
A sharp jawline, high cheekbones, dark eyebrows and a short beard. His broad shoulders had straightened up and left was a confident man. 

"Are you ready?", A familiar voice asked him. "Sure. I just have to Out on the Jacket."

Hasan came over. The other man was half a head taller than him and smiled down on the blond.

"You know that I'm proud of you?", He asked while his black hair curled itself on the back of His head.  
Emmet nodded. "I know."

"By the way, If you ever let Regina go I will hit you with a pan!"  
"You better do! If I do that I already lost my mind."

The taller man held Out His arms. "Hug?" Emmet let himself fall into his Brothers Arms. "I love you.", He said. Hasan chuckled and held him tighter. "Love you too Charming. And now let's get out of here so you can marry the love of your life!"

________

Emmet was nervous. Standing in front of all his friends? Nervesrecking but the moment that he saw Regina coming down the aisle, Henry the one walking her, He knew that there was nothing in the world that He would change it for.

___________

Hasan smiled at His little Brother who was standing there, suddenly all grown. Waiting for Regina and their almost grown son. He could see the tears in the blonds eyes and He couldn't hold back one too.

He let his gaze wander through the laines of the hall. At a pair he suddenly stopped. A woman with a pixie cut and a guy, who looked similar to Emmet.  
He had shown him pictures of them when He finally told him about the dark forrest. It had sounded strange at first but they had done enough to make Hasan believe.

Those were Emmets parents.

They were here. Hasan decided that after the ceremony was over he would have a little talk with them. They had left their child because he wasn't who they thought he was supossed to be. That wasn't right.

____________

Emmet went to sleep that night in a dark room. Regina in his arms. There was no light and for the first time, He was fine with it. The night had always threatened him but now?  
With the love of His life? His WIFE? It was good. It was quiet. It was soft. He still couldn't believe that Regina was his wife! It seemed just yesterday that He cut down her apple tree. But it had been years. A lot of time had went by. Henry was moving out soon and after a long talk with their son, they Had decided that they wanted to adopt. Not as a do over but because they wanted more children and Emmet desperatly wanted to help kids that maybe Had a similar fate to his. 

He had talked to Snowhite and Charming today. They weren't completely happy about the way He was now but they did their best to hide it (which may Had to do with the angry stares that Hasan was giving them).

They would come around.

Emmet was happy  
A lot Had changed but the facts were:  
Emmet Swan was a good Person.  
A good friend.  
A caring son, a loving husband and most important of all, a proud father.

And no one doubted it, not even Emmet.

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me what you think


End file.
